News

Goal Power! Making some noise for women's football

New exhibition in Brighton launched to coincide with UEFA Women's Euros 2022.

By BHAFC • 25 June 2022

A shirt donated by Albion's Victoria Williams is among the exhibits.

Items from head coach Hope Powell and defender Victoria Williams are part of a new exhibition celebrating women's football at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery.

Goal Power! Women's football 1894-2022 is more than an exhibition; this is a call for action. Step into Goal Power! and make a pledge to actively support, grow and shout about football for all.

This exhibition gives you our dream squad, women who have dedicated their lives to the ‘beautiful game’. Share in their stories of resistance, perseverance but above all a love for football that means they have trailblazed the way for women and girls today.

From the feminist players of 1894 and the war worker footballers of the First World War to those who defied the Football Association to play and those who have changed the Football Association from within. We shine a light on their stories and experiences.

Goal Power! showcases more than a hundred years of women's football history.

The exhibition coincides with the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 championship taking place this summer.  Three matches are to be played at the Brighton & Hove Community Stadium, the home of Brighton and Hove Albion FC.

As well as Victoria, who has donated a shirt, and Hope, the first woman to manage the English national team, other inspirational women highlighted include Chris Lockwood, Leah Caleb and Gill Sayell of the Lost Lionesses, who played in the unofficial World Cup in 1971, Kelly Simmons MBE, FA Director of the Women's Professional Game, Maggie Murphy, chief executive of Lewes WFC, the first club offering equal pay to the men and women’s teams, and Scotland’s real-life Gregory's Girl, Rose Reilly MBE.

Brighton & Hove residents Eileen Bourne and 86-year-old June Jaycocks both played for the Brighton post office teams which eventually became the Albion women’s team today as well as working hard as volunteers with The FA behind the scenes.

A shirt donated by Albion's Victoria Williams is among the exhibits.

The show includes a variety of important items to commemorate the growth of women’s football across the world. These include the football shirts of former England player Eni Aluko and a shirt donated by US soccer star Megan Rapinoe as well as a pair of leather football boots from 1921 owned by munitions worker Fanny Williams.

Hedley Swain, chief executive of The Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust said: “We are excited to be hosting this important exhibition – a celebration of the women who have championed the cause of women’s football, closely linked to the wider campaign for women’s equality.

“With Brighton & Hove as one of the host cities for this summer’s UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 we hope the exhibition will play its part in continuing the process of recognising the women’s game and bringing even more equality to the world of football.”

The exhibition runs until 25 September. For more information click here